Thanks for posting the pictures of the Mustang seat installed. I had a Mustang on my old Heritage and rode on it for 20 years. It was the most comfortable seat I'd ever sat on. I had high hopes for the stock seat on the new Heritage, but so far it's a pain in the ***. Looks like I'll be getting the Mustang seat. I'm glad it will fit with the stock passenger seat.

I like the narrower nose on the Mustang seat, as well. The stock seat is too wide across the nose for my taste.

 

Well... The weatherman was more cooperative today. I managed to put 3 hours on the Mustang seat after work.

So how was it? Ummm... Not all peaches and cream. I would say that between the stock seat, the Ultimate and the Mustang, the Mustang has been the best. Still there was some discomfort after 3 hours in the saddle. The discomfort was primarly on the left cheek. The right check was mostly happy. Don't know why the pressure point/discomfort was primarily only experienced on one side. I took 1 break (about 10 to 15 minutes) in that 3 hour run - a little after half way. Some discomfort was making it's presence known before the stop/break. Felt alright after getting off the bike for the break. Felt ok for a while after the break, but then the discomfort started creeping back in - being just a bit more than I cared for by the time I got home.

Perhaps the seat will just need some break in. It's very similar to the Mustang Vintage Solo on my Nightster. However, the Nightster's MVS is more comfortable. Granted, the MVS has some miles on it now and may have done some breaking in. Also, I put he beads on the MVS, which made a significant improvement in my mind.

Ultimately, I'd like the Heritage to be the "comfort" bike. All said, the Nightster is more fun to ride (at least in my mind as things stand as they are now), so the Heritage needs to have some advantages to make it's existence worthwhile. Perhaps more time in the Mustang saddle - with some breaking in - will get me there.

Rider position: I was pleased with my finding on this. This is all based on perception - but the Mustang seat seemed to lower me just a little. However, horizontally (forward/backward) the seat seemed pretty close to stock (based on what I recall about the stock seat anyway). I noted on the stock seat that my left calf would have clearance issues with the primary. The Mustang seat seemed to position me such that contact with the primary was no longer an issue.

IDK the Mustang seat may turn out to be a keeper. Like the MVS on my Nightster, this Heritage Mustang seat may simply need some break in, or a touch of the beads eventually.

As it stands today... I think notions of Russel Day-Longs are going to be swirling around my head - at least for a while. Perhaps the Mustang breaks in and visions of seat nirvana in the form a RDL will fade with time.

 

I has Mustang touring on 3 Harleys, 11 FLHTK transferred to 15 FLHTKL and the 13 FLSTF. When I pulled the stock seat off the 11 it never went back on until time to trade. The only grip about the Mustang on the 15 was it moved be back UP 1/2-1". The 11 was lowered 1" and the 15 lowered by design. The sacrifice in riding seat comfort was only made up by the lower seating of the stock 15 seat. When I bought the 13 Fatboy, one of the first things I got was the Mustang seat. The stock is in the Mustang box in"original condition".

Reference seat pressure and "cheek feel", several things have an effect for me. First I put nothing in a rear pocket. All the Mustang seats have backrest and that position varies. I put the angles foot pegs on all the bikes and getting my feet up on them in different positions changes butt cheek position and pressure. I also changed bars on the touring, Wild 1 models, and HD risers for the Fatboy. Different fore/aft lean angle changes cheek position. I put footboard extenders on the bikes which move the footboards outboard about 3/4" as I recall. Lets my feet sit out a bit, different hip/leg angle, and makes a cheek difference.

Sounds complicated and it is. Lots of trial and error and physical conditioning makes a big difference.

Reference your comments about seat durability I thought that the stock HD seat pans were flimsy. Flimsy pans means the seat shape won't be held and pressures will change. Mustang seat pans were much stronger and durable. There was a difference in how the round feet sit on the rear fenders so I had to make some gorilla tape "anti-scuff" pads for the painted fender surface. You made a comment on dimpling from beads. Besides my comment about nothing in a rear pocket, my riding pants have nothing on the butt to get between me and the seat. Think "Princess and the Pea" story. Good luck on the seats.

 

I haven't thought of it. I do carry my wallet in my back right pocket. I'll try taking the wallet out and see if I note any difference.

 

I rode the bike to work today. Trip is roughly an hour or so each way. Ache on the left side manifested on both legs of the trip. From an anatomical perspective, I'd say the pain manifests somewhere in the left ischial tuberosity to left gluteal fold area. The pain probably showed up sooner on today's rides because that area of my keester was probably still feeling a bit worn from yesterdays ride.

Not sure how to proceed.

I seem to recall being in a similar position with the Mustang Vintage Solo that I bought for my Nightster. If I recall correctly (big if), the pain was similar on that seat. Or maybe it was just the swamp-***/bunching caused by the vinyl on hot days. I ended up putting the beads on that seat. The beads made a significant improvement and I kept the seat. I still ride on it to this day with the beads in place and find it acceptably comfortable.

I have an extra set of beads and could throw them on the Heritage seat. My thinking is that the beads may very well improve the situation - if not solve the problem. However, the beads will leave the seat temporarily dimpled. Even though the seat will likely recover back to normal, it's likely to take a fair amount of time to do so (more time then I got for returns). On the other hand, simply just continuing to ride it as is, I suspect the issue isn't going to change much in the time frame that I have to consider a return. There's no guarantee that the situation will improve or that the beads will make a significant enough positive contribution. So it's a quandary. What to do, what to do?

 

I think that the journey to a Russell Day-Long may be about to commence. So basically the first hurdle will actually be getting the pictures taken. I generally don't have a lot of help and have to do most things by myself. So... I need to be able to sit on the bike upright - with both the bike and myself sitting naturally.

Wheel chock.... Don't have one. So... To buy or not to buy? What to buy? Go cheap (Harbor Freight) or go expensive (Condor or Wheeldock)? If I had a regular use for a chock, I might go with the good stuff. As is... I might go with cheap - but good enough to get the job done.

One requirement... when the front wheel goes over the teeter-totter and locks in place, it needs to be actually resting on the ground. It won't do for the pictures if the front of the bike is elevated. From the videos I seen on YouTube, it appears the HF/Pittsburgh chock does rest the wheel on the ground.

The Wheeldock does look sexy... I'm just not sure how much use I'd have for it.

 

I have the HF black steel chock and when the tire is captured it is off the surface just a bit. You could adjust it so the tire was captured deeper and maybe sit on the surface but you would have a hard time getting out of the chock. When going in, the tire goes up and over the pivot part and then continues in resting in the pivot part and against the front vertical stop. If you adjusted it so the tire went past the pivot, then to get out you have to back it out and up to escape. If you are tall you might be OK. Otherwise as I recall the tire is maybe 1/2" off the floor in the front. When you back out, the front suspension extends as you pull back on the bars. Hope that makes sense.

EDIT add; FWIW the HF chock works well. I made a bracket for it and used in my toy-hauler that was secure enough to go cross country a few times.

 

Thanks for the input. I think in this case - for the purposes of getting these pictures - I'd have to adjust it so that the tire sits on the ground (even if I have to recruit the Mrs. help to get it out). For general use though it won't matter. Whatever works best. I'm not sure what those general uses might be. If there were routine/regular general uses that I had for it, I might consider the Wheeldock.

 

So... Took the Mustang seat out for another spin today. About 3 to 3 1/2 hours. 1 stop for a break.

One word... Pain.

Near the end I couldn't wait to get home and get off the thing. Was it as bad as the Ultimate? Probably not. But it wasn't significantly better either. I think tomorrow I'm going to put the stock seat back on and ride the same route I road today. If it turns out that I get home in better shape than I did today, then I may be looking at attempting to return the seat. If I'm worse off tomorrow than today, I may keep the seat and see what the beads do for it. I would have tried it with the beads already, but they'll dimple the seat and the seat won't recover from that in the time frame given for returns. In either case, I think I'll also start the process of getting a RDL tomorrow.

Right now my Nightster is way more comfortable over time/distance than the Heritage... Unacceptable.

 

So put the stock seat back on and ran the same route today.

Same word... Pain.

It's hard to say which left me in worse shape, the stock or the Mustang seat. Again near the end of the ride, I was ready to get home and get off the thing.

The Ultimate seat was the worst of the 3. After that it's a close call between the the Mustang and stock seat. I've tried the beads on the stock seat. No Joy. I'm tempted to try them on the Mustang (they made a significant improvement on the Nightster's MVS). But if I do that then the seat will likely end up not returnable. I'm not sure if I should keep on working with the Mustang and send it back. One might say the Mustang needs time to break in. I don't know how valid that is. I've tried to break in other seats with no luck. But then again those seats weren't likely to get any more comfortable anyway (just wasn't design for long distance comfort).

Picked up a HF/Pittsburg wheel chock today to facilitate getting the pictures taken for the Russell Day-Long order. Decided to go the cheap route on the wheel chock. Right now I only have one use for it. Maybe that will change and I'll want to upgrade. But for now the HF will have to do.

The quest continues...